Barbed Wire and Roses
by ssj hotaru
Summary: The tragic news of her parents death brings Mimi back to her small town home. Can she find comfort in the arms of a blue eyes stranger and learn that life goes on? Please read and review
1. I

Barbed Wire and Roses 

Ssj_hotaru

__

Chapter One

****

Mimi Tachikawa stepped out of her little silver Pontiac and lifted a delicate, long-fingered hand to shade her eyes against the sharp brightness of the late afternoon sun. A chill wind snatched at her jacket and cut through her cotton shirt to her skin. The southern California winter was cooler than she'd remembered but it was hardly comparable to what she'd experienced in New York City.

She'd stopped at the town's cheapest gas station, shaking her head at the prices. _A dollar ninety-eight a gallon, this place hasn't changed one bit!_ Saddened by how untrue that thought was, she walked into the little building called the Bottle Shop to pay for the gas she'd pumped and buy a pack of gum.

Getting into her car, Mimi entered the town's pathetic excuse for traffic and preceded to drive her way past everything she'd remembered from her childhood. The same Burger King, the same Vons, the same everything. At least on the outside. The familiarity of it all brought tears to her eyes and a knot to her throat. Everything should have been different. If things had been different, it might have been easier to handle. 

She remembered the day she'd left. Her father had been screaming at her, telling her what a disappointment she'd been, throwing things across the living-room, breaking pictures; the tears coursing down his face like rain. Now she'd never see his face again and it hurt her that, that would be that last image of him she had.

With an effort, Mimi banished the memory and focused solely on her driving. Before she knew it, she was turning down an old dirt road, the small car bouncing over rocks and bumps. She pulled in front of a blue and gray house, the feeling of finally coming home hitting her like a punch in the gut as she realized that this house with all its memories, would never be home again.

Opening the gate, Mimi took her first hesitant step onto her parents' property in seven years. It was strange, the emotions running through her were familiar, the same emotions she experienced when she dreamed or thought of this place. Of how everything had been before she'd left. Back when she was a happy little sixteen year old with no past and every future she dared to dream up. She continued walking, stepping on the biggest of bricks in the pattern of the walkway in a long forgotten habit from her childhood.

The door opened before she reached the concrete porch and Mimi stared at the pretty red-head looking out at her, brown eyes curious.

"Mimi?" The voice was kind and had always reminded her of the good things in life. A smile stretched the corners of her lips despite the circumstances.

"Hello, Sora." The girl rushed out the door and swooped her up in a hug before any more words could be said. Mimi felt tears prick the back of her eyes, but told herself she would-not-cry as she hugged her long-time friend.

"I've missed her _so_ much Mimi!" Sora said, releasing her and placing her hands at her sides, awkward and embarrassed by her outburst. 

"I've missed you too. I wrote you a few letters, but you never wrote me back, I was wondering-"

"I got them." Sora interrupted immediately, "but I couldn't think of anything to write back, you know I'm not that good at writing down my thoughts."

"Sorry," Mimi replied automatically, then looked around the house again, trying to think of something to delay going inside. She didn't want to go into the house just yet. She wasn't sure she was ready to face the stress that would put on her emotions. Sora, with the same uncanny ability she'd possessed as a teenager, seemed to read her thoughts.

"You have to go in there sometime. Pacing yourself is good in a race, Mimi, but despite what the psychologists think, when it comes to things like this, taking it all at once is better. At least it will be for you. You've never been good at pacing yourself anyway, it just drains you out as fast and you don't get as far. You know that better than anyone." Mimi nodded, reluctantly conceding defeat as she followed Sora into the house.

They walked through the living room and she noticed with a shock that her parents had fixed the pictures and placed them all back in their proper places._ Mother must have done it_. She figured; her mother hated to have anything out of place and was joined at the hip with traditional lifestyles. Mimi had resented every lecture about cooking, sewing, and the importance of raising children and finding the right man. 

Now, she'd have given anything to hear one of those lectures as she walked into the kitchen. The house was exactly as it had always been. Or how she'd always remembered it. Blue and white triangle tile, white counters with porcelain sinks, and the stove and refrigerator in the same places. The walls were the same light blue with country blue cabinets.

"My room…?" Mimi asked, dread coiling like a snake around her intestines as Sora nodded and led the way through the game room and den and out the sliding glass doors into the garden. 

Mimi's old room was actually an apartment separate from the main house. The door swung open and Sora stood to the side so that she'd enter first. The room, to her relief, was exactly as she'd left it, hamster cages and all. She remembered the day she'd left, she'd had twenty-six hamsters of varying colors, though her favorites had been the blacks she'd bred. She wondered what had happened to them, knowing they'd escaped from the holes chewed through the plastic tubes attached to the cages. Dust and spider webs coated the rooms, but the black paint was still on the walls, even though her father had hated that his daughter had wanted to break away from the normal, everyday teenage girl and do her room in black with medieval pictures, but she'd gotten tired of the color pink, stuffed animals, and fluffy cloud she'd loved up until she was fifteen. 

She sighed. There were so many things her father had hated about his daughter. Though she never doubted that he'd loved her, it was sometimes hard to remind herself that he'd liked her at all.

"Will you be staying here?" Sora interrupted her thoughts to ask. Mimi shook her head.

"I don't think I'd ever be able to sleep here. There's to many memories I'd have to deal with, I'll just check into a hotel tonight after we're done here for as long as it takes to take care of everything. Have any suggestions?" Sora taped her index finger against one high cheekbone and smiled.

"I hear the Lazy Pine Lodge is high on the recommendations around here. But it's kind of high up in the mountains, I could show you the way if you like?"

"Perfect! I don't really want to spend to much time among civilization anyway. I've had enough of _that_ to last me a lifetime." 

*****

It was well past dark by the time Mimi pulled her silver Pontiac into the parking lot behind her friend's new red Mustang. She glanced hastily over the main building before shutting the car down and stepping out. Grabbing her two suitcases, she stepped out of the car just as Sora came up behind her.

"Anything I can help with?" She asked. Mimi shook her head and they walked across the almost empty gravel lot to the building with the flashing _VACANCY_ sign over the door. A small bell rang as they entered and the middle-aged blonde at the desk looked up and smiled.

"Good evening ladies, may I help you?" She greeted, pushing her glasses higher up onto her nose.

"Yes, actually." Sora said, taking control with an ease that contradicted her shy manner. "My friend here will be in the area for several months and needs a place to stay-"

"We have several suites open at the moment, though only one will be free for an extended period of time." The woman informed them eagerly. "I could call for someone to show you the room and if it suits your needs-"

"Thank you, but I'm _really_ tired, anything you have will suit my needs at the moment. If you'd just tell me the price to stay here for a few nights, I'll pay you now." Mimi interrupted, not willing to spend all night discussing a room. The woman nodded, gave her the price for a week, then when money was exchanged, handed over the key with the room number twenty-eight on it.

"Now, you just follow the wooden path to the end and you'll see it." Mimi nodded and thanked her before leaving the small room with Sora. They stood under the lamp together for a few minutes in silence.

"You want me to come with you, help you put everything away?" Sora asked finally. Mimi shook her head.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine, all I'm going to do is throw my crap on the floor and go to sleep anyway. Goodnight, Sora, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll swing by and pick you up at eight okay?"

"No, I'll just drive out there." 

"Alright then, goodnight."

"Bye." Sora looked her over sympathetically, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, Mimi interrupted her.

"Don't say anything Sora, just let me sleep tonight. We'll talk about things tomorrow." She finished with a firm _good night_ and turned toward her room with suitcases in hand; leaving Sora standing alone in the parking lot.

Mimi walked down the wooden path without noticing anything around her, though the surrounding forest was illuminated by silver moonlight and would have been beautiful she she'd taken the time to look. She only registered that she'd reached her room when the path ended at the railing of a balcony. Blinking her eyes slowly, she tried to read the numbers on the two doors. They both looked like twenty-eight to her, but one might have been twenty-three; she wasn't sure with the blurryness that had crept into her vision.

Choosing the one that looked the most like the number she wanted, she gripped the knob to unlock the door, but it turned without the key and she entered the dark room. _Well, this definitely isn't Motel 6._ She thought, with the touch of sarcastic humor she'd picked up while in New York and seemed always to accompany her, no matter where she went or what the situation. 

She set her suitcases down and used her foot to shut the door, then searched the wall with her hands until she found a light switch and flipped it up. Light flooded the room but Mimi didn't spare it any glance as she kicked off her shoes and unbuttoned her jeans to let them fall to the floor. Standing in her shirt, she finally looked around, searching for something resembling a bedroom.

She spied an open door across the room, a rectangle of yellow light resting on the end of a bed. A feeling of longing so strong it made her knees weak swept through her and she stumbled toward the room, leaving the light on as she fantasized about sleeping. She was surprised she was so tired, since she hadn't even thought of sleep after she received Sora's tearful call three days before.

__

Finally! She thought as she stretched herself across the width of the bed, her eyes closed in preparation of sleep. But she snapped to full wakefulness when the bed beneath her groaned and moved. With a shriek of surprise and fear, Mimi leapt from the bed and stared with wide eyes as the blanket was tossed wildly to the side to reveal the shadowy form of a man.

"Who are you!? What are you doing here?!" He demanded in a deep, sensual voice as he lurched clumsily to his feet.

__

Oh, my… Mimi blushed and looked away when he stepped into the light from the doorway, giving her clear, full view of his naked body and she found herself stuttering.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry, I g-guess I got the w-wrong room." Scared and confused, Mimi bolted from the room and out the door before the man could say or do anything. Once outside, she ran to the other door and immediately realized her mistake. Fully awake, without the fuzziness of exhaustion clouding her eyes, she saw clearly that what she'd taken for a twenty-three had been the twenty-eight and the other one had really been a twenty-nine. Embarrassed, she used her key to open the right t door and prayed as she folded back the covers. _I hope to hell I never have to face _that_ man again!_ It wasn't until she began to drift into sleep that she remembered her suitcases.

*****

Yamato Ishida stared at the door the mysterious woman had fled through; half hoping she would come back for the suitcases she had left in his living room.

In the two years that he'd owned and lived at Lazy Pine Lodge, he'd never had anyone mistakenly enter his room and he found the situation amusing. _I doubt the lady does though._ He thought with a smile, remembering how she'd fled his room. He glanced down at the suitcases by his door and thought fleetingly of going through them, but he erased the thought and moved to lock the door to prevent any more unwelcome visitors.

The unknown woman remained stubbornly in his thoughts as he made his way back to the warmth of his bed. Something about her had reached out to him when she'd been standing by his bed, stammering out an excuse. She'd seemed so vulnerable and scared that it had touched him somewhere inside. That just a few moments with her could affect him when he hadn't seen her face and they hadn't touched disturbed him. Scared and vulnerable women weren't his style anyway, he'd always been more attracted to females who were passionate and independent, but he had a feeling that the shadowy woman was something else. He'd have to chase her down tomorrow, or better yet, make her come to him; he did have her suitcases after all. 


	2. II

Chapter Two

**__**

Mimi stretched and sat up in the king-sized four-poster, smiling at the feeling of newness that permeated her body. The last three days seemed like a nightmare, possessing the patchwork clarity of unreality. But one look around the motel room proved to her that everything had been real. Tears filled her eyes and for the first time since she received the call from Sora, she wept.

Finally, after she had cried herself temporarily dry, she got up from the bed and headed for the adjoining bathroom for her morning shower. She was thinking about what she'd wear when she remembered where her clothes were. A groan of dismay escaped her lips and she fell back away from the hot water, feeling like crying again for an entirely different reason. Although she wanted nothing more than to stay in the shower for the rest of her life, she finished quickly and reached for one of the big, thick towels that were folded in a cabinet. She thought about putting her shirt back on, but her pants were with her suitcases and the shirt only covered her upper body. With a sigh of frustration at her own stupidity, she wrapped the towel around her body, tucking it into itself just above her breasts, then proceeded to brush her wet hair straight. 

She walked from the bathroom and made her way quickly toward the door before she could loose her courage. Once outside, she continued in her forceful walk to his door. She knocked loudly, banging her fist against the door as hard as she could so there would be no chance that he wouldn't hear her and she could chicken out.

The door opened immediately, almost as though the person on the other side was waiting for someone. She gasped as she saw the man's face, though she tried to hide her astonishment. The man was _handsome_. _In fact_, she thought, as she looked him over, _he's the embodiment of the word._ Intimidated by his comeliness, she back away from the door and thought of fleeing. Surely no one should have to suffer such humiliation. But before she could run, he opened the door wider and smiled. He _smiled._ She thought her legs would melt and she would crumple to the ground in a boneless heap at his feet. She swayed momentarily, but quickly covered it up by moving forward, berating herself as soon as her wits returned that she should be old enough not to swoon over the first good looking guy to come along. 

"I'm sorry, but I forgot my things last night." She forced out, hating herself all over again for the scene the night before. He stepped to the side so she could enter and she went immediately towards her suitcases, relief flooding through her like a tidal wave when she saw that they hadn't been touched.

"I appreciate you not snooping through my things," she commented sincerely as she picked up the suitcases and turned around. "I don't know many people that would-" Her words came to an abrupt halt when she noticed that he had shut the door. Trapped in the room alone with him, she became uncomfortably aware that she was wearing nothing but a towel that stopped just above her knees and she felt absurdly vulnerable at the realization that if she even moved wrong, the towel could loosen and fall.

"This is a very uncomfortable situation." She said, the words escaping her mouth before she could think about them, the man smiled, his blond hair falling over his blue eyes as he cocked his head to the side.

"I agree entirely."

****

Yamato felt like he'd taken a blow in the stomach. The woman was so damned _beautiful_ he found he couldn't think straight. Her dark, wet hair fell past her waist, lighter brown waves appearing where it had begun to dry. Her eyes were a deep, bottomless brown flecked with gold around the pupil and her skin was creamy white. He had shut the door without realizing he'd done it and he now snapped back into himself as he stared down at her, watching her eyes shift around the room as if searching for an escape. Well, he wouldn't let her get away _this_ time with out leaving him with some information.

"You're very beautiful," he whispered, lifting his hand and running his fingers through the soft, damp hair at her temples. "Like an angel." She stiffened and blinked but didn't stumble away from him in outrage. He took that as a good sign and lowered his head until he could feel her ragged breath on his lips. "What's your name, Angel?"

"M-Mimi." Even stuttering, her voice ran over him like a caress and he shuttered. Not being able to restrain himself any longer, he claimed her lips with a groan, catching her gasp with his mouth and invading hers with his tongue. He could feel her shaking and he slid his arms around her waist to steady her, the towel loosening and draping across his arms as he drew her to him at the same time her knees gave out and she dropped her luggage. 

Finally, after what seemed to him like centuries, he drew his head back and looked into her dazed, half-closed eyes, holding her against him and reveling in the feel of her soft curves against his firm chest.

It took a few moments, but when the misty, unfocused look faded from her eyes, she looked at him. _Really_ looked at him and he could feel her stiffening again. He felt her hands come up against his chest and push, attempting to shove herself away . With a sigh, he reluctantly relinquished his hold and she stumbled away, her eyes widening as her towel fell in a heap between them. 

With a squeal she lunged for it and covered the front half of herself as best she could. Yamato felt a smile tugging at his lips at her desperate effort to conceal her nakedness, but he suppressed the urged and stuck his hands in his blue flannel pajama pants.

"Do you need any help carrying your luggage to your room?" He asked, trying to appear as if she wasn't standing naked infront of him save for a towel and as though his innocent inquiry were nothing more. She sent him a blistering look.

"I think you've done _quite_ enough, thank you!" She succeeded in concealing herself by holding a corner over her shoulder with one hand and the opposite corner on her hip with the other; but when she moved, the thick cloth came dangerously close to revealing the treasure between her legs. Yamato felt laughter bubble up into his throat at her obvious distress and decided to cut the lady a little slack by turning around.

****

Mimi wasted no time wrapping the towel around herself when his back was turned, making sure the top was as high as it would go and as tight as possible. She sighed in relief at finally being covered again and he turned to face her, as if that release of breath had been a signal he'd been waiting for.

"Pity." His regretful tone surprised her and she looked into his eyes to see his gaze sliding up from her body to meet hers. "I liked you better without the towel."

She felt heat curling through her stomach and rising through her chest to her face. Knowing she must be blushing a bright red, she picked up her suitcases and brushed past him towards the door, throwing back over her shoulder as she opened it, "I suppose a man like _you _would." 

She was just closing the door behind her when his hand completely covered hers, effectively anchoring her to the door knob. "You'd judge me when you don't even know me?" Ignoring the true intent of his question, she asked her own.

"That is the point isn't it? I don't even know you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get dressed." She tried tugging her hand away, but his fingers tightened over hers.

"No, you don't. But I'm one hell of a kisser huh?" She looked up from her captured hand into his face and saw that he had his head cocked so that locks of golden hair fell over and concealed one eye. His lips were turned up in a mischievous smile and his visible blue eye held a strange glint. Her mind completely blank of any witty remarks, she stuttered in an attempt to find something to say and his mouth stretched wider in amusement.

"Can't think of anything to say? Well, don't worry, we don't need any words, you just come back in here and we wont have to talk anymore." His voice had lowered to a sensual purr that flowed over her like thick, warm water and she became uncomfortably aware of the pressure of his hand over hers.

"I really have to go, _please_." She closed her eyes, hating the breathless sound of her voice and hating herself more for not being able to control her hormones. Her mind created pictures of what she would miss by going back to her room, but she did her best to block them. 

He let out a heartfelt sigh and slowly released her hand, still smiling down at her. "The offers still open if you want to take me up on it some other time." Mimi gulped, wondering where her old friend sarcasm was when she needed it, and nodded. If she could throw some sarcastic remark about what she thought of his offer in his face, perhaps he'd quit looking at her like he was. She turned and summoned up her force of will to prevent herself from running. 

She was reaching out to open her door when his voice stopped her.

"My name's Yamato by the way, Yamato Ishida." She hurriedly turned the knob and rushed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

****

"Yamato Ishida! You actually went into _Yamato Ishida's _room by accident and then _left!"_ Sora threw her hands up in the air in a hopeless gesture.

"You know him then?" Mimi asked, confused by her friends behavior.

"_Know_ him, of course I know _him, everyone_ knows him."

"Okay! Are you going to tell me _why _everyone knows him or are you just going to keep me guessing?" Sora blushed, probably realizing the game she'd been playing, and quickly rushed to explain things.

"He owns that motel, and he's building a castle up on Green Horn on twenty-eight acres he bought three years ago. He just showed up one day and started buying and building things. No one knows where he got all the money, no one really knows much about him period, but some think his parents were rich and left him all their money." She paused in her explanation and looked at Mimi.

"Was that the end?" She asked suddenly, "did you just leave and not go back?" Mimi blushed and looked at her hands on the kitchen table to hide her pink cheeks. Sora caught it and verbally pounced on her. "You went _back_?! What happened, did you two… you know?" 

"No!" Mimi exclaimed, astonished that her friend would even ask. "No, I just… forgot my suitcases in his room and went back to get them this morning." Sora eyed her suspiciously, seeming reluctant to believe that was all that happened. 

"That was it?" She asked, proving Mimi's assessment of her look correct. She groaned and realized she couldn't hide it from her curious friend and decided to confess.

"Well, n-no, he… well, he sorta, k-kissed me." Sora's squeal of delight startled her and she looked up at her in surprise. When she returned the look, Mimi felt uncomfortable and fidgeted in her chair.

"Well?"

"He… offered to… well." She cleared her throat and looked out the large window over the counter. "You know. I didn't though," She continued quickly before Sora could get the wrong idea. "I went back to my room." Sora rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I can't believe you passed up an opportunity like _that_." Mimi, once again knocked off balance by her friend's behavior towards the matter, gaped at her in horrified fascination. Sora, as if reading her thoughts, blushed and waved her hand through the air in a nervous gesture.

"I'm twenty-three years old, nobody's a virgin in their twenties these days, you should know that." Mimi continued to stare at her, wondering where her innocent, no-sex-until-married friend had gone and who was this woman standing in her place. After several moments where her friend returned her look, understanding finally dawned in Sora's brown eyes.

"I can't believe it." She whispered breathlessly. "You were always flirting with the guys when we were teenagers. I simply can't… My God, Mimi you're a…. _virgin._" Mimi interlaced her fingers together and continued to stare out the window.

"I would have thought, well, you're famous now and you're attractive-"

"I never met anyone I cared enough about." She explained, cutting off what ever Sora would have said next. Sora looked abashed.

"Oh, Mimi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought you were some slut but I honestly believed that you'd have had sex atleast once after you moved away." Mimi just shook her head and pushed away from the table to get herself a glass of tea. She took a sip of the warm, calming liquid and turned around to face Sora with a sigh, bracing herself against the counter.

"Okay, I think I'm ready for the details, you just said they crashed. Did run into someone and will I have to have some kind of law suit?" Sora looked at her with sad eyes.

"No, the truck's totaled and it wasn't anyone's fault. They were driving back up the Canyon from Bakersfield in the rain and a rock fell off the mountain and came through the top of the cab. Killed your mother instantly. Your father was sleeping as you know he does when he goes through the Canyon so he doesn't get sick. The truck went off the road and rolled a few times until it landed in the river. He ended up with a broken collarbone and some broken ribs, they said he would've lived except that he was trapped in the truck and drowned. I'm really sorry, Mimi." Tears were filling her eyes and spilling over, making her vision watery.

"Thank you, Sora, you really are my best friend." Sora nodded mutely.

"Did he-" She paused and took a deep breath. "Did Daddy ever say anything about me?" Her voice cracked and she started crying, her breath hitching as she tried to breathe around the pent-up sobs.

"Of course he did!" Sora rushed to assure her, getting up and putting her arms around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. Mimi sagged against her.

"God, I loved them so much, Sora! I just want them back! I want to say I'm sorry, and be here for their birthdays and anniversary." She cried so hard she couldn't talk and Sora led her into the living room where they sat down on the couch.

"Shush Mimi, they loved you too, your dad was just to ashamed at how mad he'd gotten to ask your forgiveness. He didn't think he deserved it, you know how he was. The money you sent them, he put that all in a bank account for you. Everything is yours, the house, he even got the Lincoln put in your name. He's told us all his plan of driving it all the way up to New York City and parking it outside your apartment for you." 

The information was only fuel on the fire to Mimi and she felt herself crying harder at her own selfishness. How could she have thought they hated her? The same people that had told her that they would be happy if she was and had supported her writing all the way. She thought of the fight they'd had and of how stupid everything seemed now that nothing could ever be rectified.

Finally, after she'd cried herself dry, she caught her breath and pulled away from Sora's arms and said in a choked voice. "Okay, I think I'm done, what else is there I have to do?" 


	3. III

Chapter Three

Mimi, making extra sure she had the right door this time, stumbled into her motel room, kicking off her sandals and making her way barefoot across the floor. Her eyes felt grainy and she felt exhausted, but she didn't think she could go to sleep. She'd never been able to sleep when her emotions were running full blast. 

I'd always been a happy child. She thought, her heart heavy with pain as she sank into a chair. _I'd never had anything to cry about, not like some kids, who came to school dirty and sad. God, how I loved them! _The tears came unbidden and she found that she couldn't sit still. With a growl of frustration she wiped the tears from her eyes and thrust herself up out of the chair. She hadn't cried two drops in three years and she'd be damned if she'd start bawling her life away now! 

With determined steps, she walked in long strides to the deck she'd glimpsed briefly that morning while trying to find something to wear and attempting to force Yamato Ishida out of her thoughts. 

Walking through the kitchen, she opened the sliding glass door and stepped from linoleum to wood, her breath coming out in a _whoosh_ when she caught the view. Clearly illuminated in silver light from the moon, the pine and oak trees grew side-by-side, standing like sentinels beside the Kern River. There was a doe and fawn, visible only as shadows beneath a pine, drinking from the edge of the river where the water was somewhat calmer, and she could see little shadow creatures flitting from tree to tree. Despite the sadness that clenched her stomach in an iron fist, she smiled at the purity and innocence of nature.

She glanced around the forest in wonder, taking in the sights and sounds as she turned to see the other half of the deck…

And froze.

It had simply never accured to her that the deck would be shared with the room next to hers, but there was Yamato Ishida, lazily reclined on a green futon chair, a can of Pepsi on the table beside him. His eyes opened slowly and his gaze focused on her, the soft lighting from the lamps by the sliding glass doors making his eyes seem black instead of dark blue, filling her veins with liquid fire as they traveled from her legs to her hips, waist, and then breasts before finally meeting her eyes. 

****

Yamato arched his back in a stretch before crossing his feet at the ankles and regarding the woman beside him with a friendly gaze. God but she was beautiful, from her cute little feet to her seductively wavy hair that just begged him to run his fingers through it. But she was wound tighter than a spring; he'd have to get her to loosen up and not be so tensed all the time. He smiled at the thought. He knew _exactly_ how to loosen her up.

"Do you find something amusing, Mr. Ishida?" Her cold tone and formality didn't surprise him, though he had to admit that he had somewhat expected her to be ready to throw herself at him when she found out who he was. Hell, every other woman had! His interest in her grew. 

"Not at all, I was merely thinking that you look quite beautiful tonight." He commented easily, lifting his arms and crossing them behind his head. She produced a very unladylike snort that made his smile stretch wider across his face.

"I can hardly believe that. I must look anything but beautiful with my hair in tangles and no doubt I have dirt on my face." She did have _something_ on her face. Now that she had put a name to the substance, it was easy to see what the dark smears on her cheeks and forehead were. He supposed it would be a turnoff to most men. On any of the women he usually entertained it would have disgusted him, but something about the dirt only made _her_ seem more beautiful. 

He swung his long legs off the chair and stood. She took a step back as if to retreat to her room, but something changed her mind and she stood with her back ramrod straight, facing him with her chin thrust forward and her nose in the air. He loved it. He took her upper arms in his hands, her skin burning against his, and looked down at her, noticing with a jolt of pleasure that she had tilted her head further back to see him.

"You're as beautiful as an angle, Angel." He said with total seriousness. She laughed up at him. It sounded real, not like the way his type of women usually laughed, but then, his type of women were only good for one thing.

"Flattery doesn't get anywhere with me Mr. Ishida." She said in amusement, her eyes flashing into his. The formal way she said his name made him feel like an old man.

"It's Yamato, and it's not flattery if it's true."

"Whatever, _Yamato_." He cringed and was tempted for a moment to tell her to go back to calling him "Mr. Ishida.

"Do you always take complements this well?" 

"Of course, that's why I'm such a _good_ girl."

"So really are an angel huh?"

"No," He sensed a sudden sadness around her, dispelling her playful sarcasm. "I'm no angel at all." He felt her arms twitch as she attempted to remove herself from his grasp, but instead of letting her go he pulled her closer against him and looked down into her eyes, ignoring his instant reaction and making sure she couldn't feel it.

"Did I say something wrong?" She was watching the jumping of his pulse curiously and looked up at him when he asked the question.

"Of course not, I'm just not innocent enough to be an angel, that's all." He felt a jolt of disappointment at her words. Although no one was a virgin past nineteen anymore, he'd cherished the though that she might not be very experienced. He shrugged mentally, dismissing his half formed hopes. _Beggars can't be choosy. _He frowned at the thought. He'd never referred to himself as a beggar before.

"Well, innocent or no, I still think you're an angel." He said lightly, dismissing his thoughts as he tried to cheer her back up. It seemed he had the opposite effect as she jerked out of his arms so suddenly that he had no choice but to let her go. She stood several feet away, breathing heavily, her breasts pushing against her white, dust splattered blouse as she struggled with conflicted emotions. He was startled to see the silver on her face and was stumped for several seconds before he realized she was crying. He took a step towards her but she flung her hands out infront of herself as if to hold him off. 

"_You don't know me_!" She burst out suddenly, the words sounding shrill and accusing. "You don't know where I come from or what I've done! You don't even know my _last_ _name_!"

****

Mimi tried unsuccessfully to get herself under control. She knew she was overreacting, he'd only been trying to cheer her up; but she just couldn't help it! She'd left her aging parents to themselves and run off to New York, where she'd been a housekeeper for a _murderer _for Christ's sake! And here was one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen telling her she was an _angel_! She suddenly had the absurd urge to laugh, but managed heroically to choke it down.

"It's not for lack of wanting." Struck off balance that he had even _dared _to speak, she stared at him until his words finally made it from her ears to her brain. Her eyes widened in disbelief. 

"You _want_ to know me?" He shrugged as if it wasn't something out of the ordinary.

"Who wouldn't? You seem like an interresting person."

"You mean you don't just want to…" She blushed at what she'd almost said while she cursed herself for her unworldly attitude.

"Don't mistake me, I most _definitely_ want that, but I'd also like to get to know you." He smiled lopsidedly, making her catch her breath. "So what _is_ your last name?"

Emotions roiledinside her, grappling so strongly for acknowledgement that she felt swept up in the struggling. In the end, fear of getting close won out and, with one last look at his handsome, confused face; turned and escaped back to her room where she locked the sliding glass door behind her incase he tried to follow.

****

Mimi lifted the tan work shirt out of the drawer and shaking it, tears floating in her eyes as she gazed at it lovingly. _Tachikawa_ was stitched in dark blue acrossed the left side and it had a dark oil stain near the bottom that years of washing had failed to remove. She lifted it to her face a took a deep breath, inhaling the lingering scent. _Daddy_.

Pulling off her own blouse, she slipped into her father's and buttoned it all the way down. Looking in the mirror she smiled shakily at the way the Xlarge shirt swallowed her small frame and made her look like a child and walked from her parents bedroom to see how Sora was coming with lunch. 

"Done already?" Sora asked from the kitchen table as soon as She walked in. Mimi pulled out a chair and sat down, reaching for a knife to help Sora with the potatoes she was slicing. 

"Not even close. It's so hard going through their stuff." She said, her voice choked and tired. 

"So how are things with _Mr. Ishida_?" She asked eagerly, changing the subject. A sharp laugh escaped from between Mimi's lips as she smiled and shook her head.

"Sora, has anyone ever told you that subtlety isn't quite your strong point?" Sora shrugged.

"Life's to short for subtlety. So… has anything new happened?"

"You're impossible!"

"You bet! Now come on Mimi, spill?"

"Nothing new has happed." Sora stuck her bottom lip out in a stubborn, pouting expression that Mimi couldn't help but laugh at. "Come on Sora, let's change the subject, I don't feel like talking about Yamato today." Sora's eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Already on a first name basis are we?" Mimi blushed at what and shook her head.

"Can we _please_ change the subject!"

"Do you like him?" Confused, Mimi stared at her.

"What?"

"Are you attracted to him? You know, is there any chemistry there?"

"_No_!" She exclaimed quickly, aghast that her friend would even think there could be anything between her and that arrogant, selfish, rude, hormonal….. man!

"You know, how about we change the subject?" Mimi asked in a deceptively sweet voice.

"Oh, but Mimi-"

"Like now!" Sora sighed in false misery. 

"Well, if you insist."

"I do!"

"How about that sky today huh?" She asked with a smile, "Talk about blue." 

Mimi laughed. 


	4. IV

Chapter Four

Sora, I could use a little help here!" Mimi yelled as the large black television slanted down towards her and she struggled under its weight to keep it on the unsteady shelf. When Sora didn't immediately appear, she tried again. "Like now!"

"What could possibly be so important that you couldn't wait five flippin' minutes for me to get out of the bath-" Sora broke off as she came out of the bathroom and stared at Mimi for several seconds before she rushed to her side to help. 

"What happened?!" She asked as she loaned her strength to Mimi's and tried to help her lift the television. They slid it back into place and were withdrawing their hands when the low groaning of the shelf alerted them to trouble and they hurriedly gripped the television just as the wood snapped at the middle, spilling everything on it and leaving the full weight of the television to them.

"To…the… bed!" Mimi bit off as they staggered toward her parents' wooden four-poster. 

"What happened?" Sora asked as they laid the dusty machine on the bed's clean coverlet.

"I don't know." Mimi snapped in irritation, glaring at the television. "I was wiping the screen off when the damned thing _fell_ on me!" Sora burst out laughing, to Mimi's obvious annoyance. "It was _not_ **_funny!_**" But her best friend continued with her hilarity.

Mimi looked towards the broken shelf, with its knickknacks scattered over the floor, a few of the small, glass things shattered. Tears filled her eyes. _My mothers…_ She started forward and bent to gently gather the fallen objects. Sora came up behind her, all amusement gone from her posture.

"I'm sorry Mimi, I wasn't thinking…" 

"It's all right, it was my fault anyway, I should have been more careful." Sora watched her with sad eyes, wanting to help her pick up the pieces of her mother's curios, and her life, but she was unsure if her overture would be accepted. Perhaps, if Mimi were more willing to weaken the armor she kept around herself; she used to be such an open person, but that had changed during her years in New York. Not for the first time, Sora wondered what exactly had happened to her there.

****

Yamato wasn't anywhere in sight when Mimi drove back to the motel. Relief didn't come immediately, but it did when she was safely inside her room. Her nerves were going haywire and her mind had locked itself into a circle of all consuming grief and shocked denial, always turning back on itself just when she thought she had things under control. She was even beginning to resent her parents for dying. She caught herself mentally cursing them several times a day, as if it had been their fault they'd died. She supposed that was a normal stage for getting over the death a of loved ones, but she didn't like it, not one bit!

The next week was a routine Mimi wanted nothing more than to break and to break viscously. The only day away from of going through her parent's things was the funeral, which could hardly be called a relief. Mimi couldn't bring herself to wear black. Black didn't mean mourning to her, it was just another color, her favorite as a matter of fact; so she wore a dark blue suit. She'd seen her parent's lawyer directly afterward, attempting to get everything out of the way immediately. He calmly informed her that, since there had been no other relatives mentioned, everything her parents had owned now belonged to her. Just thinking about it made her sick.

She came back to the motel after talking to her parents' lawyer to find Yamato waiting by her door with a dozen white roses and a plain, golden wrapped rectangle of sweets. She felt herself smiling. She'd been avoiding him like the plague for the past week and when he hadn't made any move to talk to her she'd been surprised to find that she was disappointed and terribly afraid that he might have lost interest. She'd been secretly elated to find him at the door to her room at six in the morning demanding to know why she never wanted to see him. She'd let slip quite accidentally that she had a funeral to go to but no more than that. It had been hard keeping a smile off her face until she'd mentioned that and she'd practically ran to her car so he wouldn't notice her tears.

Now he was smiling at her and she felt her heart rise up from somewhere in the vicinity of her shoes to take its rightful place in her chest. Maybe, just maybe, getting to know this Yamato Ishida wouldn't be so bad. Whenever she was around him, even when she was fighting off his blatant sexual advances, she forgot about her parents and the problems in her life and, if nothing else, maybe she could use him as a balm for her pain.

"Hello Angel." He handed her the roses and chocolates as soon as she was within distance and took the key she had in her hand to unlock the door.

"Hello, yourself." She answered, trying to sound annoyed that he took control of things so easily, but she suspected that it was that trait that drew her to him and had made her so wary at first. It felt strange and awkward now that she had decided to trust him; she didn't really know quite what to say. She looked at the presents she had in her hands and felt embarrassed, she had never learned how to except gifts graciously, it had always made her feel guilty that people were willing to give her things. She shuffled uncomfortably.

"What are these for?" She asked as she followed him into her room. He shrugged his shoulders, his back to her as he walked straight through the living-room and into the kitchen. She heard the refrigerator door open and then the pop and hiss of a soda can being opened.

"Would you like me to get you something?" She asked, amused sarcasm spewing forth from her. He came out of the kitchen smiling, a can held contentedly in his left hand and a large empty cup in the right..

"I think I managed quite well by myself, but thanks for the offer." He replied pleasantly before plopping down on the loveseat across a table from the chair Mimi always sat in. She sat the box of chocolates on the little table and looked around the room in vain for something to put the roses in. 

"Here." Mimi looked down at the cup Yamato was holding up, realizing that it wasn't empty but filled with water. She looked at him curiously, not understanding. He nodded his head towards the roses. "For those."

"Oh!" Mimi took the cup out of his hand and placed it on the table next to the golden box, then opened the plastic around the bottom of the roses and gingerly lowered the severed stems into the water. "Thank you." He shrugged again.

"I thought you might need a little cheering up, funerals are so gloomy." 

"Thank you." She repeated quietly, reaching out a hand to touch one of the petals with disbelief. No one had ever given her flowers before, not even the boys when she was in highschool. She said the thought out loud.

"I guess I'll have to give you flowers every day to make up for it then wont I?"  
"Oh no! You don't have to do that!" Mimi jerked her hand back from the roses and stared at him in horror. She hadn't meant to make him feel guilty, the thought had only slipped out, she hadn't even meant to say anything about it. Yamato shook his head.

"I want to." 

They didn't really talk about anything after that, the weather mostly. Nonsense stuff that neither really cared about, but Mimi found herself smiling even about that. He really was good medicine. He left barely an hour later and Mimi realized after he was gone that he hadn't made a serious pass at her all the time he'd been there. She was curiously disappointed but she didn't dig to deep into that. She took a shower that night and went to sleep in wet hair and a bathrobe.

****

The next morning she woke up to a gentle tapping. _Probably just some bird_. She thought, burrowing her head under the pillows. The sound didn't stop. _It doesn't sound like a bird_. She lifted the corner of a pillow and concentrated on the noise. Actually, it sorta sounded like someone knocking on glass, almost like a window. Listening more closely, she thought it might be coming from the sliding glass door to her deck and groaned in frustration. Who the hell would be tapping at her sliding glass door! She let the pillow fall back on her head.

She jerked straight up in bed, sending pillows flying. "Who could it be!" She said to herself in disgust as she stumbled out of bed and was halfway across the room before she realized that she'd left her robe behind. "Who else could it be you moron!" She found her white cotton robe and ran a hand through her hair as she fumbled her way through the kitchen to the glass door.

She felt odd… as if she were dreaming. She was maneuvering her way around objects, barely managing to miss them except the once where she hadn't turned in the right direction fast enough and ended up slamming her hip against the kitchen table. Biting her tongue to keep from crying out, she rubbed her side and kept walking towards the deck.

She pulled the curtain back and smiled at Yamato waiting on the other side, wearing a dark green turtleneck sweater with blue jeans and holding a single red rose in his hand. 

****

Beautiful. He thought with reverence, gazing at the way her hair curled around her face and over her shoulders. She was clutching the white robe to her in a way that suggested it was all she wore and it made he blood pound in his head just thinking about it. He abruptly told himself to stop thinking about it. He wasn't used to hiding how he was feeling with women, but everytime he made his longings known, she flipped out in some way. He didn't want to scare her away, not when he was just getting her to trust him.

"Morning Angel." He said as she opened the sliding glass door. He wanted nothing more than to swoop her up in his arms and carry her back to her bedroom, but he settled with handing her the rose.

"Good morning." She replied absently, staring at the rose he'd given her as if she wasn't sure she was really holding it. He frowned. Her voice sounded a little hoarse and if he wasn't mistaken, she looked somehow paler than she had the day before.

"If you weren't planning anything this morning, I thought we could go into town and get something to eat?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. She looked indecisive.

"Well… I… I kinda have some things to do, but…" She looked around the room nervously, as if searching for a reason not to go. For the first time since he'd met her, he wondered if there could possibly be another man somewhere in the picture. She was very beautiful, with an angelic face and a body to die for. That would explain some of her strange behavior. Not all, but some.

"If you don't really want to go…" He purposely allowed himself to trail off, watching as she jerked her attention back to him.

"Oh no! It's not that, it's just that… well, my friend is expecting me and… I… guess... it wouldn't hurt to have a quick breakfast." She finished a little uncertainly.

"Excellent!" He stepped into the room before she could change her mind, thinking that her friend must be male if she was so nervous about going somewhere with him. "I'll wait in here while you go put on something warm."

****

Mimi laughed, she couldn't help it, he used just enough sarcasm in his stories to make even the most serious situation seem amusing. "Was that it?" She asked, her voice still somewhat hoarse. Her lungs felt as though she'd been yelling, all raw and soar, and she had a tickling feeling in the back of her throat, but she ignored it.

"No, but I prefer to keep the rest of that tale to myself and save you the blushes." He told her with a particularly rakish smile and Mimi's lips turned up in an answering one.

"Thanks for the consideration." She replied sarcastically, recalling that in the time she'd spent with him he hadn't once tried to save her any blushes.

"Hey, just looking out for my favorite gal." He drawled, reaching an arm across the table and affectionately tapping her chin with his fist. "I'm not sure if I should tell you this just yet, but… I kinda like ya." Mimi choked down another laugh and spared a glance for the clock. She jerked with surprise and spilled coffee all over the front of her shirt and jeans.

"Oh dear!" She exclaimed, standing from her chair, her face red with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! It's just that I looked at the clock and realized what time it was and I really-"

"It's all right." Yamato told her calmly, cutting off her explanation, coming around the table with a handful of napkins to help her clean her shirt off. "Come on, lets go on out to the car." With his hand around her waist, Mimi let him guide her out the door, the money for their meal left behind on the table.

After Yamato dropped her off at a small, blue and gray house down a little dirt street, he realized as he was pulling away that he still didn't know anything personal about her._ Well damn!_


	5. V

Chapter Five

She felt odd. That was the first thing that registered as she opened her eyes. The second was that the phone was ringing. She sat up slowly in bed and gasped as the room spun dizzily around her. Closing her eyes against the sudden nausea, she took deep, gulping breaths until her stomach settled. Her throat was sore and she felt hot and sticky and every muscle in her body ached painfully.

The phone continued its merciless ringing and she moved slowly to the side of the bed and planted her feet on the floor. Walking into the living-room to answer the phone was going to be remembered as one of her greatest accomplishments she decided as she sank into the chair and picked up the receiver.

"Hello" Was that her voice? Mimi didn't think so. It sounded more like a choking frog.

"Mimi? Is that _you_?" _Sora?_ She wondered why Sora would be calling her, but her fogged mind refused to relinquish any answers.

"I think so." She answered, feeling like she'd swallowed the damned choking frog. 

"_You're sick_!" Sora exclaimed over the phone. Mimi smiled at her tone. Was it really so impossible for the great Mimi to be ill?

"I think I swallowed a choking frog." She said as matter-of-factly as possible with the frog still croaking from her throat.

"You _What_!" Mimi discovered that laughing was painful and settled for smiling to herself.

"You see, I have this little frog stuck in my throat that croaks for me-" 

"-_MIMI_!"

"He _does_!"

"I'm coming right over!" Sora announced, then promptly hung up before Mimi could reply. _She probably thinks I'm a nutcase._ She thought with a smile as she replaced the earpiece on it's cradle But it soon faded when she realized that she had to get back to bed somehow. She didn't think she could walk back, her legs were still trembling from exhaustion and pain. She wondered how she could deteriorate so fast when she'd felt nearly top shape the day before.

To add another notch to her dilemma, a knocking on her glass door announced that she had a visitor. _Just my luck._ She very much disliked the thought of Yamato seeing her as she was at the moment; wearing nothing but her father's tan work shirt with her hair tousled from sleep, and weak with what she assumed was the beginning of the flu. And she could just imagine greeting him with that damned choking frog still in her throat! Her lips curved up in another smile as she thought about what she'd told Sora. She'd probably come off as completely insane and her friend was rushing over with men in white uniforms to take her away. 

She was forcing down painful laughter when she heard Yamato calling her from the deck. Well, it was either croak at him or sit in the chair and wait for him to come in by himself. She croaked.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" He asked as he came into the room, placing the yellow rose he'd brought for her on the small table.

"I swallowed a choking frog." She explained patiently, enjoying being playfully obnoxious for once. Yamato chuckled and leaned his hip against the arm rest of the love seat. 

"Frog huh?" Mimi nodded solemnly, all seriousness. Yamato's smile faded as he looked her over with a disapproving frown. "What are you doing in here?" Mimi opened her mouth to answer, but he made a dismissive gesture with his hand before she could and knelt to pick her up. "Never mind. Let's just get you and your little choking frog back to bed." She nodded and clung to him as he carried her to her bedroom.

"My friend is coming over." She told him, unable to keep silent. "I said something about my choking frog and now _they're coming to_ _take me away -ha ha- to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time-_"

"-Mimi, your frog is croaking." He informed her with a smile, effectively breaking off her butchery of the song she was singing. She smiled sheepishly.

"I'll tell him to stop." 

"You do that."

"I really don't think he'll listen to me though." She continued absently as he lowered her onto her rumpled bed, pulled the discarded blankets up to her chin, and tucked them around her. "He's really stubborn you see." Yamato nodded appropriately as he whispered for her to go back to sleep.

****

It was happening again. 

She was back in his huge white house, in the room with all the books. She was dusting the shelves. Noticing little details like the sunlight coming through a crack in the drapes. She could smell the lemon scented cleaning spray mixed with cherry cigar smoke. Feel a smile curved on her lips in the dream and for a moment she believed that this would be different. There had been many days just like this one, with the same details. 

A softly singing voice became known to her as she was pulled deeper into the memory. It was her. 

The sound of an opening door killed the song in her throat. She turned, smiling, ready to greet her employer-

-only to see his business partner there. Mr. Corrigon stood in the doorway for several moments, radiating wealth and power, and Mimi instinctively shrunk back away from him. 

The smile that turned up the corners of his mouth was purely predatory. The glint in his black eyes terrifying as they slid over her not-so-original uniform consisting of a short-sleeved black dress that came up to her neck and stopped just above her knees with a white apron around her waist.

"Is-is there something I can do for you sir?" She asked hesitantly, clutching the can of Pledge to her chest. His mouth tilted up further at one corner than the other, showing a glimpse of pearly white teeth.

"Indeed there is." He stepped fully into the room and turned to close the door quietly behind him. A metallic click announced that he had locked it. 

Mimi could again feel the heavy beat of her heart as it slammed against her chest. Feel the panic that stiffened her muscles until she couldn't have moved if her life had depended on it. The terror that made her hands damp and her mouth dry. She should scream, she knew, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. She felt the color drain from her face as she'd realized -completely- how hopeless her situation was. 

Her employer, Mr. Deveral; had warned her away from his handsome yet intimidating business partner, and she'd obeyed with nary an argument. She had never suspected that the man might seek her out! 

Her very real fear seemed to amuse him as he came towards her. One slow, languorous step at a time. The rings he wore on both hands glinting cheerily in the room's light. She retreated from him until she felt the book shelves at her back.

He stopped infront of her, so close she could feel the heat emanating from his body. He leisurely placed both hands beside her head, bracing against the bookshelf and effectively trapping her in the prison of his arms and body that was slowly pressing down on hers with insulting confidence. His hot breath on her face caused adrenaline to flow through her veins and she could hear her blood pounding in her ears. 

She felt suddenly faint and her chest ached, informing her that she'd forgotten to breathe. The large, lung-full of air was all she needed to break the spell panic had put on her and she took another, shallower breath as she struggled to find her voice. 

"I-I-I am warning y-you, s-s-s-sir, I-I'll scream i-if you s-so much as-s lay one f-finger on me!"

His soft chuckle caused the flesh to pucker on her arms and the hairs to prickle as they stood on end all the way down her back. He ground his hips against hers, blatantly pressing his erection into her lower belly.

"Scream all you like honey, because I plan to lay much more than a finger on you." His words were low purr and laced with amusement, but they managed to shoot ice through her entire body and she shuddered physically with fear and revulsion.

"Y-you can't do this!" She accused shrilly, her words driven more from hysteria than her mind as she tried to put as much distance between his body and hers by becoming one with the bookshelves. "Mr. Deveral w-will come down here and-" He silenced her outburst with his mouth. Crushing his lips cruelly against hers as he took advantage of her open mouth and thrust his tongue into it, stroking the roof of her mouth before she realized what he was doing.

Horrified and beyond thought, she bit down instinctively on his tongue and fought the urge to vomit when the taste his blood filled her mouth. 

With a muffled cry, his head snapped back and one arm lifted away from her as he placed it over his mouth in shock and pain. A jolt of energy rocked her from her head to her toes and she was running towards the door before her brain had time to register what she was doing.

She fumbled quickly for the lock and flipped it. Turning the knob, she swung the door open just as a large hand closed around the back of her neck and squeezed. A shrill squeak exploded from her throat at the unexpected capture and the pain that came with it. Squirming, she tried to twist away from him, but before she could accomplish anything his free arm came around, trapping her neck in the crook of his elbow. His arm tightened as she struggled harder, striking out at him with her fists and shoed feet, screaming at the top of her lungs. She heard a satisfying crack_ as the Pledge can came in contact with some part of his face and fought with new desperation as she realized she had something that passed for a weapon. As he cursed unintelligibly and clumsily twisted her around in his grasp until she was facing him, she battered him around the head with the spray can._

"BITCH!" The word was barely understood only because he'd shouted. Blood and spit showered her face at the roar. The word was followed by the hand releasing the back of her neck and slapping her across the face. Pain stung her cheek and she stopped screaming for a surprised instant as she realized that he had backhanded_ her. Something warm and wet trailed down to her chin from where his ring had cut her skin. She stared up at him stupidly in disbelief._

He grabbed her arms where they hung limply at her sides and twisted the can from her fingers, letting it drop to the floor. He muttered incomprehensibly, slobbering blood as he maneuvered his nearly severed tongue around in his mouth and glared at her, his face twisted into grimace and lined with pain, but he refused to let her be. 

She tried to twist her fragile wrists from his one-handed grasp when his other hand went to the top of her dress and ripped the buttons off as he jerked the neck down.

She opened her mouth to scream again, but was deafened by what sounded like a bomb going off on her shoulder. Something wet, warm, and liquidy, hit her in the face like a bucket of water and she choked at the taste. Blood…

****

She jerked straight up in the bed with a choked off scream of disgust and terror, the lingering taste of another's blood on her tongue. Her stomach heaved into her throat and she threw herself sideways over her bed to vomit her dinner onto the floor. She felt a twinge of guilt for throwing up all over the carpet; but try as she might, she couldn't stop the spasms in her belly.

When at last it seemed as if everything had settled down inside, she gulped deep, calming breathes and forced herself to relax. 

The dream had been so damned _real_! It always was, that's what made it so terrible. 

She wiped her mouth on the bottom corner of her comforter and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She slowly began to rock back and forth, her thin arms hugging her knees, her long, chestnut hair tangled around he head. 

She couldn't say how long she rocked, but the motion soothed away the lingering terror and managed miraculously to restore a semblance of calm.

That is… until Sora and Yamato walked in. 


	6. VI

Chapter Six

Once again settled comfortably into a bed- though not hers- Mimi was plagued by scenes from her dream. Had Mr. Corrigon really deserved to die? She didn't think so. Not because of her. What would Yamato and Sora think of her if they knew that she'd gotten a man killed? Would they condemn her? God she hoped not, she's lived with accusations for years but she didn't think she could stand it if they looked at her with the same contempt that the people of New York had.

Should she tell them? _Could_ she tell them?

Before she could decide, the door to Yamato's room opened and the man poked his golden head through. The smell of bacon sent her stomach rocketing back up into her throat, but she managed heroically to choke it back down where it belonged.

"Are you hungry?" 

Mimi shook her vehemently, not willing to risk opening her mouth when the stench of fried animal fat hung heavy in the air.

"You sure?" Mimi nodded. "Okay then, sleep well… Mimi." _I wish!_ She thought longingly as he quietly closed the door; but with the dream so fresh in her mind that she was afraid to close her eyes lest it surface again. At the moment all she wanted to do was force the memories to the back of her mind and forget them.

But didn't psychologists say something about it being healthier to talk about disturbing memories? Was there really anyone she trusted enough with her feelings to pour her heart out to? She wasn't sure. Her relationship with Yamato was so new that she was loath to kill it as it blossomed. And she was only just getting to know Sora again. What if neither bond was strong enough as yet to withstand the strain such a confession would entail?

Finally, after endless worrying and finding herself no closer to a decision, she drifted reluctantly to sleep.

****

Yamato sat across the coffee table from Mimi's friend, Sora; who -for the first time since she'd arrived- had fallen into blessed silence. He was flopped back on the couch, wanting more than anything to kick the red headed chatter-box out and crawl into his bed so he could hold his Mimi. Surprised at himself, for the thought held no sexual innuendo, he would have dug deeper into it, but the woman across from him opened her mouth again. 

He resisted the urge to groan.

"I've been thinking…" She started, almost timidly. He smirked in dark humor.

"Sounds painful."

"I was _saying_." She continued, ignoring his comment and shooting him a glare that was meant to be withering. "Mimi seemed upset when I got here and-"

"No _really_?" Damn but the woman was annoying! He'd had five seconds of God Sent silence. _Five Seconds!_ And then the woman had decided to exercise her tongue some more! And the starry eyed worship with which she had greeted him was beginning to make him sick! But it seemed his sarcasm was accomplishing one thing, if not sufficing in shutting her up; at least she didn't appear to be so enamored with him anymore. In fact, she looked fit to kill. 

He smiled.

"Would you be _serious_! I am _trying_ to think!"

"Well… by all means, don't let me stand in the way." Sora's glare, if possible, grew more intense.

"I've been trying to figure out what's been wrong with her since she got here, but she just wont tell me-"

"Did you give her a chance to talk?" Bright red flags darkened her cheek bones and her eyes shot sparks at him.

"Of course! I don't talk _all_ the time."

"You mean you actually breathe once in awhile?" His eyes widened in mock amazement and he wondered if it was healthy for her face to be as red as her hair or if he should call an ambulance. 

"Mimi hasn't really talked to me about her life before she got here, I wondered if maybe she'd talked to you?" She said stiffly after remaining silent for several seconds in which Yamato had thought that she'd finally gotten the point. No such luck.

"I tried to ask her last name once but I wasn't particularly encouraged by the way she reacted.." He answered dryly.

"Oh?" The way she replied suggested that she didn't have a clue as to what he meant. So Mimi didn't flip out on her friends- that made him feel special. _Really._ "I've tried to steer the conversation that way a few times but…" This time she trailed off by herself.

"Did you ever ask her?" He found he was becoming interested in the conversation, and why shouldn't he be? It just happened to be on one of his favorite subjects- Mimi.

"Well…. No" She sounded a little sheepish.

"Maybe you should have."

"I was _trying_ to be subtle, certain matters have to be handled delicately."

"Well obviously _subtle_ didn't work."

"Oh, so are you suggesting we just march in there and _demand_ to know what happened while she was in New York?"

"New York…? Is that where she comes from?" The woman's mouth all but dropped open.

"You mean you didn't _know _that she just came home from New York? She really hasn't told you anything?"

"Didn't I already mention that she wasn't fond of talking about herself?"

"You don't even know her last name do you? Well _I'm_ not going to say another word about Mimi until I get a chance to talk to her! If she didn't trust you enough to confide in then I'm sure not going to give her away." She stood up from her chair and marched towards the door to his bedroom. 

Yamato stayed seated. If he wanted information, the best place to get it was from Mimi, not her overly vocal friend. He was more than willing to work for her trust. He had a feeling it would be worth it. 

****

The sound of the door opening invaded the blackness that surrounded Mimi as she slept, warm and content, in Yamato's bed. Soft foot steps carried the person into the room until they were standing by the bed. She felt the skin in her arms tingle as she thought of someone looking down on her curled under the blankets, but her eyes felt to heavy to lift and she was perfectly willing to leave them closed. 

A shifting in the mattress announced that whoever was in the room had just sat on the edge of the bed nearest her. A warm hand brushed her ear as it removed strands of hair away from her face and she knew who it was from the electricity that curled her toes even before he spoke.

"My poor, little angel." He said in a low, purring voice. She felt a gentle tug on her scalp and realized vaguely that he was running his fingers through her hair. His presence was oddly comforting and she felt herself drifting back into dreamless slumber when the door opened again and Sora's voice penetrated even the semi-consciousness that Yamato's had only enhanced.

"What do you think you are doing in here?" The demand was uttered in a harsh whisper, but it sounded like a shriek on Mimi's awakening senses and, feeling a headache begin behind her eyes, she groaned out loud.

"You've waken her up!" Yamato's accusation was downright hostile and Mimi wondered abstractly why they were not getting along. 

"Mimi, how do you feel?" This from Sora, her voice much sweeter sounding than it had been seconds before but still unwelcome to her ears. Another groan slipped from her throat before she could suppress it and Yamato's shifted on the bed as he leaned over her, his hand still buried in her hair.

"Are you okay, Angel Mine?" Genuine concern laced his voice and Mimi opened her eyes to look up at him, the throbbing in her head making her feel disoriented and she was sure if she was standing she would have swayed.

"My head hurts." She said in a small voice, realizing with irritation that she still sounded like the stupid frog.

"Poor Baby! Do you want some aspirin?" Sora again. Mimi shook her head negatively, then winced at the pain that cause.

"We better go and let you get back to sleep, maybe the headache will be gone when you wake up again."

"No!" Coming to an instant decision, Mimi sat straight up in the bed, and instantly regretted it, but she couldn't let them leave for fear that she would loose her nerve and be unable to speak to them. "Please… Don't go, I… have something I want to tell you guys."

****

Yamato listened to her story, growing increasingly furious with nearly every word she spoke, her voice threatening to break at any moment. That some bastard had even thought to harm Mimi, much less attempted to force himself on her made him down right murderous. He registered vaguely that such hatred for a stranger was foreign to his personality, but put it down to his Mimi's situation

"Mr. Corrigon had just ripped the front of my uniform open," She continued with her story, her voice wavering and her hand coming up to rub the skin above her right eye. "That's when Mr. Deveral shot him in the head.

"Of course, Mr. Corrigon was dead, but there was no way to hide that Mr. Deveral had killed him because my screaming had brought the entire household running and the cook had called the police." Her voice choked to a stop and she took a minute or two to collect herself again. 

"The trial took several months and in the end Mr. Deveral was found guilty of murder. He never made it to jail though. It seems- I mean, Mr. Corrigon had very powerful friends and Mr. Deveral was shot down coming out of the courthouse that last day." It appeared as though she couldn't go on and Yamato reached out a reassuring hand to pull her to him, but then thought better of it. Everything that had happened in the time he had known her seemed to fall perfectly into the story and he didn't want to push her where she didn't want her to go.

"Poor Mimi! To think that horrible man tried- that he was actually going to-" Sora broke off and coughed self-consciously. Mimi's hand came up to rub above her eye again and Yamato remembered that she'd said her head hurt. 

"But he didn't deserve to die." Mimi said in a small, fragile voice that twisted Yamato's heart and made him forget his decision not to push her as he reached out and hugged her to him, cradling her against his chest as though she were a small child. With her head resting on his arm she was close enough that he could see the bright shine of tears in her eyes.

"Oh Mimi, my angel, don't cry." He spoke, his voice husky from the suspicious lump in his throat. But before he's even said the words, the tears were spilling over. Her soft hands came up to curl around his neck as she turned her face into his shoulder and wept.


	7. VII

**Chapter Seven**

   Yamato Ishida looked like he was in an entirely different world.  Probably thinking of poor Mimi and what she'd told them about.  Sora watched him curiously from across the table.  He wasn't what she'd expected, handsome enough sure, but he certainly didn't seem as charming as she'd heard.  She wondered if he was planning on running, if he would ever come back after he left and went back to what ever life he led when he wasn't around Mimi.  

_Most likely_.   Men usually did in Sora's experience.  They were fine as long as they were getting a little tail for free, but if things started to get complicated they couldn't get to the door fast enough.

      "What was she like before?"  He asked unexpectedly.  Sora wasn't as surprised at the question as she was by the voices it was spoken in, he almost sounded choked up, as if he was close to tears.

      "Happy."  She answered, and it was the truth.  They'd both been two carefree young girls.  Flirting with the boys, giggling with their friends, hanging posters of the hottest new movie stars and musicians on their walls and in their lockers.  Mimi had been the clichéd "most popular" girl in school.   It had seemed like it was a coming of age ceremony for the teenage boys to ask her out to a dance or to come to their particular sports game.  She'd never gone of course, her parents had been old fashion in their belief that a girl shouldn't date until she was eighteen, but when Mimi had been that age, she'd banished herself to New York City where she'd had that horrid experience that may have scarred her for life.

      "She's changed so much."  Sora said, feeling the need to talk, if she didn't, she was afraid she'd start to cry.  "She was always laughing, a person never saw her with a tear in her eye.  She never complained to anyone either, though I imagine she wanted to, she had the same problems as the rest of us and the Lord knows we griped to anyone who'd stand still long enough."  She smiled sadly at the memories of a time that seemed so long ago.  "She was absolutely beautiful, she still is.  She walks into a dark room and suddenly it seems full of sunshine and flowers.  The boys would flock around her, it's really a wonder there were any left over for the rest of us, I can hardly believe she's still a virgin, but then I guess it would have been hard to get over that kind of experience."  She would have continued, but Yamato cut her off while she was pausing for breath.

      "She's still a virgin?"

      She shut her mouth immediately; not deigning to answer him. Had she just blurted out something Mimi didn't want anyone to know?  Sora didn't remember her saying it was a secret, but what if she had assumed her friend could be trusted not to tell anyone and she had just spilled?  But she might not have even tried, for he was once again locked in his own mind, mumbling to himself, his eyes fixed on the floor, as he mulled over the information he'd just learned. 

      Distractedly, he rose to his feet, then walked towards the front door.  He was closing it behind him before Sora finally comprehended that he was leaving.  _The bastard!_  The last thing she heard before he was gone was a muttered "-_virgin_."  He didn't even have the decency to make up a convincing excuse, he just got up and left.

"Charming."  She mocked aloud.  She honestly wanted to know what the woman who wrote that column in the paper had been smoking when she'd written that description, and if she'd share.

****

      Mimi blinked a couple of times to dispel the blurriness of sleep from her eyes and make sure she was seeing what she thought she was.  There were roses _everywhere_!  All different colors!  She sat slowly up in bed, staring straight ahead of her in amazement, unable to believe what was before her.       "Do you like them?"  She turned to look at Yamato sitting on the edge of the bed, she'd known he was there of course, she seemed to have some kind of radar on him, she knew when he entered the room, when he was sitting beside her, even when she was dead to everything else, his presence always shone through.  As she looked at him now, those blue-blue eyes, the golden hair that tumbled over his left eye, that oh-so handsome face, she felt the prick of tears and blinked to hold them back.       "I love them."  She said, her voice not at all steady and still croaking.  He smiled a lopsided smile, opening his arms, and Mimi hesitated only a moment before curling up against him, feeling the security that being in his arms gave her.       "How are you feeling?" He whispered into her hair, his warm breath rustling her chestnut strands.       _Cherished._  She wanted to say, but she didn't have the nerve.  "Better," was as close as she dared come. 

      She felt him pulling back and looked up.  He smiled, his eyes half concealed by drooping lids, dark azure filled with warmth and affection, and deeper emotions she couldn't fathom.  She smiled back tentatively. 

        "In that case, how about dinner?" 

        _Dinner_?  Was he talking about going out?  She was still croaking and felt like microwaved shit and probably looked twice as bad and he wanted to take her out to _din_ner!

      "I'm not sure I'm up to going out to dinner just yet."  She said, but he just smiled enigmatically.

      "No problem."  Without another word, he stood and left the room, the smile still in place.

      _What's he planning?_

_****_

      Thirty minutes later she found out as he came back into the room carrying a tray filled with steaming vegetables.  Mimi could feel her stomach rumble as she watched him enter, eyeing the food hungrily.

      "Dinner."  He announced, seeing her interest.  He sat on the edge of the bed, settling the tray in his lap. "I'm afraid I've never cooked for a vegetarian before, I hope this is okay."

      "How did you know I was a vegetarian?"  She asked, her hand slowly approaching the food as she swung her legs off the bed.  She hadn't realized how hungry she was before, and gosh was she _hungry_!

      "I strangled your friend for the information."  He said with careless irritation. "She thinks that I'm some kind of stalker and she's terrified to speak to me lest she slip up and tell me some kind of secret."

      "You two aren't getting along too good are you?"  Mimi asked, snatching up the fork as she scooted closer and proceeded to shovel food into her mouth with complete disregard for manners.  Yamato watched her with affectionate amusement, a wry twist to his mouth as he answered her question.

      "Well, she's a rather…. _Interesting_ young woman."  He said kindly.

      "She is that."

      "You don't find her… well, somewhat irritating?"

      "Of course I do."

      "But isn't she your friend?"

      "She's my very irritating friend.  Has the bad habit of never shutting up, especially when one is thinking.  Or trying to."

      "Oh, so you noticed that too."  Mimi smiled at his sarcasm.

      "I don't supposed she asked you about your castle?"

      "Castle?"

      "The one you're building on your twenty-eight acres on Green Horn."

      "A castle… Is that what they're saying it is?"

      "That's what Sora said it was."  Mimi said, looking at him curiously when he started to laugh.  "What?"

      "A castle!"

      "It's not a castle?"

      "It's just a house.  A large house, but certainly no castle."

      "Oh."  They lapsed into silence for several seconds as Mimi continued to eat.

      "So what other interesting information have you heard about me?"  He asked when she finally set her fork down in her empty plate with a clank.

      "Just that you're rich, and charming, and too handsome for your own good."

      "You heard all that?"

      "Well, Sora told me you were rich, but I observed the other two myself."  She replied as she tucked her legs beneath her and burrowed into the fluffy comforter.  

She carefully made herself comfortable before looking back up at Yamato, her heart skipping several beats at the smile he sent her way.  He hadn't made a single pass at her in such a long time, hadn't indicated that he wanted to be anything but friends and shed begun to wonder if he'd lost interest in her physically.  But could he look at her like that and not want her?  She wasn't an expert, but she didn't think so.  

      There was also something new in his manner, a kind of admiration mixed tenderness that she couldn't quite place, but she liked it.  She wondered what had changed, it certainly couldn't have been anything she'd said- unless it had something to do with what had happened in New York, but somehow she didn't think so.  Whatever it was it made him happy with her, and she doubted an attempted rape would do that.

      Before either of them could say anything else, Mimi yawned so hard her jaw ached and she blinked in surprise at Yamato.  He just smiled wider and reached out to steal her blanket.  

      "Alright Angel, time for bed."

      "I'm already in bed."  She pointed out, but crawled up towards the headboard anyway.  He spread the comforter across the bed and was tucking it around her when she summoned her courage and reached out her hand to touch his arm.  "Don't leave."  

      He paused, his face over hers, an uncertain expression on his too-handsome face, then his eyes softened.  "Scared?"

      She nodded weakly.  "A little." 

He lifted his hand and twirled a strand of wavy chestnut hair between his fingers.  "I'll stay."  He said, replacing the hair before pulling up the corner of the blanket and sliding into the bed beside her.  She snuggled against his welcome warmth, her back to his front, and sighed contentedly when he wrapped his arms around her, feeling like she was finally where she belonged.

      "You're the sweetest person I've ever met. " She said sleepily over her shoulder, her eyes slowly drifting closed.  "I think I could love you."

      _Me too, my Angel_.  She thought he might have said, but by then she was already fast asleep.


	8. VIII

Chapter Eight

She could get use to this, Mimi thought, stretching out against the cushions, the inside of the limousine was the height of luxury compared to what she was accustomed to. Smiling, she thought of where she was going and a giddy anticipation filled her.

Over the pass two weeks as she stayed in his room recovering from the flu he'd stayed to keep her company, assuring her he'd had nothing better to do. In that time they'd talked about every conceivable thing; from childhoods, to politics, to favorite foods, and one memorable time where she'd discovered he was ticklish when she'd teasingly poked him in the side and he had literally jumped off the bed.

Looking out through the tinted window, she gazed across the top of the many evergreens to the lake that lay like a sapphire jewel nestled in the hand of a granite giant. How perfect it would be to experience such a sight with the one you love. That had become her secret fantasy, blossoming tentatively over the time her and Yamato had spent together, becoming a precious flower, it's roots entrapping her heart, it's petals bringing color and life to her world which was otherwise gray and dismal.

The car turned and paused, looking straight all she could see was sky; the her stomach gave a little leap as they began to descend the other side. Pulling onto a gravel drive, Mimi saw Yamato come bounding out from inside the house to open the door for her, eager as a boy impatient to show off something he was inordinately proud of.

Looking up at him, seeing that smile as he held his hand out to her, her stomach once again gave a fluttery leap that vibrated through her entire being. Returning his smile nervously, she placed her hand in his and let him help her from the car.

As she stood, her body came into brushing contact with his and their eyes locked. She felt as though she could see eternity in their depths.

Her tongue flicked out to we her dry lips and she watched in fascination as his pupils seemed to contract. Something in her stomach clenched in response and she broke eye contact to look at her shoes, suddenly feeling shy without knowing why. 

"I'm glad you came." He whispered, his war breath feathering the hair at her temples.

"You didn't give me much of a choice." She mumbled, remembering the limousine and it's politely unrelenting driver.

"No" he laughed softly, "I didn't."

Changing the subject, he said "Come, see my house." And with her hand still trapped in his, she followed him in.

__

****

He couldn't breathe.

Watching her, seeing the light in her eyes, the glow that seemed to radiate from her very core to illuminate what had only been a number of organized walls he was proud of. Now though… it was a home.

She belonged here, he felt that in his heart. Seeing her next to the stone fireplace, in the kitchen, the den, the porch,… the master bedroom, he had felt a tug at his heart, stealing his breath and making his world seem to spin slowly on it's axis.

He'd been entertaining such thoughts since before he'd really gotten to know her, and frankly… he was terrified.

At the moment she was gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows with a dreamy look in her eyes, as if what she was seeing was unbelievably beautiful. Looking down at his hands, he realized they were trembling and quickly clasped them behind his back. 

__

****

Hand in hand, flowers dancing gently around their ankles, they walked slowly, lingering over a mutual feeling of perfection. The sun was riding low over the surrounding pine trees, the day beginning to draw to a close, and darkness beginning to descend. 

With a packed lunch and a folded sheet respectively, they selected a spot along the slowly winding creak. Sitting together, they gazed contentedly across the meadow.

Slipping off her slip-on shoes, Mimi slid her feet into the icy water, feeling them ache as they numbed. The day, like the week before it, had been unseasonably warm, which, with the recent rain, had fooled the flowers into blossoming early. The next frost would kill them all, but for the moment it felt as if mother nature had created a paradise, however temporary, just for them. She liked the feeling.

Yamato leaned close into her and, sliding a hand under both her legs, smoothly removed her feet from the water, then he gently began to massage some warmth back into her frozen limbs. Her eyelids drooped at the sensation and she barely resisted the urge to purr.

Looking into his face their eyes locked again, but this time when her stomach tightened, she didn't look away. Silently, his hands move to her ankles, then up her calves, to her knees, resting there at the edge of her jean skirt for a moment before skimming over the top and down her thighs to her hips where they stopped.

Watching each other, he lifted her and positioned her where she was straddling his thighs, the curve of her bottom fitting into his lap, his knees supporting her back. Behind him, she locked her ankles. 

Still not speaking, not needing to; he kissed her. A brief kiss, nothing more than a brush of lips, but her eyes drifted closed as her blood seemed to erupt into millions of fluttering butterflies. He kissed his way to her neck and she tilted her head back for better access, his hands still at her hips, his thumbs moving sensuously against the exposed skin of her midriff.

"Marry me."

The whisper came straight out of her most cherished fantasy, and at first, that's what she thought it was. Until she felt him pull back, felt his gaze on her face and slowly opened her eyes. Lightheaded and quivery, she focused on him and was amazed to see a mixed look of hopeful uncertainty that she knew and felt a burst of such pure happiness that tears welled in her eyes.

"I love you." He ran the back on one index finger down the side of her face, watching her eyes, gauging her response. "Marry me… please." he said nothing else, waiting for her response.

She felt stunned. Certainly she'd hoped for… dreamed for… even prayed for this moment; but to have it actually happen, and to be happening now when she'd least expected it… The tears spilled over her eyes, her emotions so strong she could no longer hold them back, nor did she want to. Her hands, which had been resting flat against his chest, twined around his neck and pulled his head almost violently down where _she_ kissed _him_, taking the initiative for the first time in their relationship. When they parted, it was only for lack of breath.

"Yes." she answered, her breathing still irregular. After a moment which it seemed he didn't quite comprehend, he made to leap to his feet in joy, but lost in balance and fell backwards, letting out a _"whoop" _as he hit the ground, then rolled so that she was pinned beneath him.

"I'll make you the happiest woman on earth… the _universe_! You'll have everything you'll ever need, anything you want!"

"All I need is you." She said, and it was the truth. "I love you." 

It was all true.

**__**

The End

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author's note: I'm sorry it has taken so long to bring this particular story to a close, there has been many times that I thought of merely scrapping the whole thing (as I've confided in a certain friend THANK YOU CHERRY!). But I continued to write in the face of losing whole chapters at least 3 times Before They Were Posted! _You all (the readers) are very special and so I thank you for your reviews and support, or just for reading. I hope you are happy with the ending. If you aren't of course, I'm sure you'll tell me J but I make **no promises**._

OUTTY

Ssj hotaru


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